4 
R. M. KELLOGG'S GREAT CROPS ON 
mission of expert horsemen, and a law passed 
imposing severe penalties on any farmer who 
should use any male horse for breeding pur- 
poses without it having passed a rigid exami- 
nation by this commission. The standard was 
at first placed very high, and requirements of 
excellence steadily advanced as the stock 
became more improved. The government 
made large appropriations and sent its agents 
into every foreign country to purchase fine 
specimens, and they were imported into every 
parish of that country and their use alloted 
breeders at a very small fee. A regular system 
of crossing breeds was instituted to secure 
horses for special purposes, until today France 
has the finest stock of all-purpose horses in 
the world, and the amount of gold flowing into 
that country from other nations for horses 
for breeding purposes is simply enormous. 
One breeder and importer in this country 
alone is reported to have paid France over 
two million dollars for this stock. We have 
only to consult the advertising columns of our 
stock journals to form a slight conception of 
the magnitude of these importations. 
Had this country exercised the same care in 
excluding inferior stock from breeding, we 
should not have had our streets filled with the 
miserable scrubs that infest our farms. 
So, too, if our nurserymen had practiced the 
same care in selecting perfect specimens of 
vigorous thoroughbreds for propagating, we 
should not now see our fields infested with the 
miserable scrubs that pass for orchards, and 
our time would not be spent in cultivating 
plants which are incapable of producing fruit. 
Selection is the basis of all improvements 
either in plant, seed, or animal kingdom. 
When the highest points of excellence are 
wanting, it should be discarded for all breeding 
or propagating purposes. 
Like begets like, and if we propagate from 
scrubs we shall harvest scrubs, and this is as 
true of plants as of animals. 
THE FAIIA llK 
of berry growers in a large majority of cases is 
caused by liie 
Seminal Weakness 
of their plants. If you will visit the beds of 
your neighbors at fruiting time, you will be 
struck with the unevenness of their crop. 
Examine carefully and you will find hundreds; 
of plants 
]Jfot Bearing Fniit, 
and these plants will generally be found 
unfruitful the year following. This may be 
caused by an injury from insects or slovenly or 
harsh cultivation injuring the roots of the 
plants, or there may be something in the soil, 
which renders them very susceptible to all 
kinds of rust and growths of fungi so that varie- 
ties peculiarly weak in this respect will not 
succeed. Such soils are very rare; not one 
piece of land in a hundred will refuse to yield, 
large crops of any kind of small fruits where- 
large crops of corn, potatoes and other' 
farm crops are raised. Some varieties will dO' 
splendidly on one piece of ground which if 
removed to another piece on the same farm, 
will be almost worthless. You must experi- 
ment and find what kinds do best with you. 
The varieties which succeed over the greatest 
area of the country are always the safest to- 
plant, but it pays largely to test in a small way 
the new sorts that come to you properly 
recommended. 
Plants, like animals, when once utterly 
exhausted by seminal effort will 
Never Fnlly Recover. 
You will bear in mind that seminal weakness 
is caused by maturing seeds. The flesh of the 
fruit is merely the receptacle for the seeds to- 
grow in and is not exhausting to the plant. 
A Test. 
Select a plant loaded with the largest num- 
ber of berries, without regard to size, each con- 
taining the largest number of seeds. You will 
notice it makes no effort to throw out runners 
but puts its whole energy into maturing these- 
seeds. Now watch it closely and you will 
observe that after the fruit has ripened the 
Plant will ])ie 
of sheer exhaustion, excepting a spark of life 
left in the crown. After a while it will begin 
to revive and new roots will form above the old. 
ones and new leaves will appear. Now enrich 
the ground and give it every chance possible 
and it will again attempt to 
Propagate its Species 
by throwing out an immense number of smalli 
